DODGERS NOTEBOOK: Where Zack Greinke starts next is unknown

The coaches, managers and physicians may know where Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke will start Wednesday, but it remained a state secret as of Monday afternoon.

Greinke will either come off the disabled list to start against the Washington Nationals or make another rehabilitation start, likely for Single-A Rancho Cucamonga, with Matt Magill starting for the Dodgers.

"We don't want to wait too long" to announce where Greinke will pitch, Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said. "We just want to make sure everybody's on the same page, getting Ned's input, Doc's input, trainer's input, Zack's putting together what he - if he's going to be able to pitch, what are the things we want him doing, we don't want him doing.

"We just haven't gotten all that together. So we're not ready to say."

Greinke won't pitch for Triple-A Albuquerque because the Isotopes have Wednesday off. Double-A Chattanooga is a long way from Los Angeles, and the Lookouts are playing in Pensacola, Fla. Single-A Rancho Cucamonga is at home Wednesday night.

Mattingly said he didn't know where Greinke's rehab assignment would be if he doesn't pitch for the Dodgers.

Mark Ellis (strained right quadriceps) and Jerry Hairston Jr. (groin) might rehab with Chattanooga later this week, since the Dodgers have a three-game series in Atlanta beginning Friday. Greinke could pitch in Pensacola, then meet the Dodgers the following day in the same time zone. But that seems unlikely.

It's more likely the Dodgers will keep Greinke in Southern California until the last possible moment so the Nationals have no idea which pitcher they're facing - Greinke, a former Cy Young Award winner, or Magill, whose next major-league start will be his fourth.

There's certainly no incentive for the Dodgers to reveal their starter any earlier than they need to.

Greinke and Magill threw bullpen sessions Monday at Dodger Stadium as they normally would two days before a start.

"The bullpen went fine. (Greinke) came out of it good," Mattingly said. "The doc's seeing some healing in there.

"We know he's going to pitch on Wednesday. We're just not sure where yet."

Greinke threw 80 pitches in Rancho Cucamonga on Friday, his first rehab start since fracturing his left clavicle April 11.

"I think his arm strength is going to be good enough" for Greinke to pitch for the Dodgers, Mattingly said. "Just the little worries of covering first running into somebody, hitting, sliding, covering home plate, blocking the plate in some fashion, diving for a bunt. A lot of little things could happen where he lands on his shoulder.

"Are we willing to let it be uncontrolled or still standard control? That's the biggest decision still."

League closer 'for now'

Mattingly offered a tepid endorsement when asked if Brandon League still was his closer one day after giving up two runs in the ninth inning in a non-save situation against the Miami Marlins.

"Yeah, for right now he is," Mattingly said. "I hate to say it like that but yeah, for now."

League has allowed at least one run in three consecutive outings, raising his earned-run average to 6.28. He's walked three of the 18 batters he's faced in those games after walking just one of the first 45 batters he faced this year.

When does League lose the job? What's the tipping point?

"We walked off the field yesterday and we had a win," Mattingly said. "We walked off the field shaking hands at the end of the day."

Also ...

Left-hander Ted Lilly, on the disabled list since April 30 with a strained right rib cage, could pitch in a rehab game this week. ... Scott Elbert, making his second rehabilitation appearance in four days, pitched a scoreless inning for Rancho Cucamonga. Elbert struck out two batters and retired another via groundout.